The original musical parody
Decent's De$cent



The fast-paced musical comedy, Decent's De$cent, brings to light many business and legal ethics issues taken from case studies and today's headlines. The Decent family is in unfamiliar territory when they take their forty year old company public and change corporate presidents midstream. As the Broadway, rock, pop, and country music parodies entertain attendees, it becomes clear that corporations and law firms with leaders who set the ethical tone at the top will be more successful. Attendees will take away lessons from the resolutions of the ethical conflicts. Decent's in-house legal counsel weathers the storm, guided by his moral compass. The company's outside counsel plays a key role in the company's survival and discovers ways to build trust with a company for a lasting relationship. The CFO avoids an SEC investigation by refusing to "cook the books" despite pressures to do so.  The executives learn the value of investing in compliance and ethics programs so they can sleep well at night. To keep it interesting, there are plenty of follies along the way!

In a scene from Decent's De$cent, Nancy, a brand new lawyer, sings a love letter to her favorite city, San Antonio, on her first day of work at Decent Food & Drug with a parody of "Good Morning Baltimore!" from Hairspray.

Parodies in Decent's De$cent

The following growing list of parodies are scheduled for performance on November 6, 2008 at the Empire Theatre:

Parody Tonight (Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum); No One Mourns the Greedy (Wicked); Hello San Antonio! (Hairspray); Chain of Fools (Aretha Franklin);  I Bought It on Ebay (Backstreet Boys/Weird Al Yankovik); Could I Leave You (Follies by Sondheim); I Can Hear Your Cell (Hairspray); Defying Dishonesty (Wicked); A Millennial World (Little Mermaid); Sarbanes Oxley!(Oklahoma!);  Big Spender (Sweet Charity);  That Don't Impress Me Much (Shania Twain);  You Screwed Things Up (Josh Groban);  A Little Less Conversation (Elvis Presley);  In My Life (Beatles); and I'm 30 Years Old Tomorrow & Sleazy Street (Annie!);  Seasons of Love (Rent);  You Can't Stop the (Ethical) Beat (Hairspray).

The Charline McCombs Empire Theatre

ACC was fortunate to have been offered the use of the beautiful Charline McCombs Empire Theatre for the Follies by the generous Las Casas Foundation, which does a great job of developing funds for both the Empire and her sister theatre, the Majestic. A special thanks to Las Casas Board members Frank Ruttenberg and Bonnie Reed for helping the Follies get onstage at The Empire Theatre. We are proud to be performing in such a great space and will dress her up for the show with backdrops from New York and office sets provided by Cox Smith Matthews.  Mike Cubeta and his crew are building some great set pieces as well.  Don't miss the "flying" scene in Defying Dishonesty, a parody from Wicked.

Cast & Crew of Decent's Descent

Mission Pharmacal's General Counsel, C. Lee Cusenbary, returns for his third year as the show's writer, producer and director. Follies 2008 can also boast one of San Antonio's most respected choreographers, directors and producers, Gloria Liu, as part of the team.  Susan Breidenbach is the Media Director for Mission Pharmacal Company and lends her talents as a Stage Manager to the Follies this year. City Public Service Senior Attorney Kathy Yates returns as the costume designer and adds a Follies "flair" with her "it needs more feathers, wigs, sequins, color" approach to design.  USAA attorney John Pawloski also returns to artfully create the world's longest powerpoint presentation on his trusted Macintosh computer.  Kelli Cubeta chairs "The Ethical Life Awards" committee this year.  Many thanks to Cynthia Smith, the Follies' music librarian. Mike Cubeta is hard at work making sets for the show with his talented committee.

We are pleased to announce the 2008 Cast and Crew of Decent's De$cent: